


Courage, Dear Heart (The Support Your Local Girl Gang Remix)

by Snacky



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Character Study, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Other, Tumblr Prompt, women change the world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-10-16 00:10:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10560070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snacky/pseuds/Snacky
Summary: In a modern Westeros, Lyanna Stark is rescued from the Tower of Joy, and given a purpose.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [riahchan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/riahchan/gifts).



> Written for a title prompt from Riahchan.

Lyanna’s been stuck in this godsforsaken little town on the edge of nowhere for months now, and she’s pissed off.

And she’s pregnant.

~~~

She’s actually beyond pissed off (but sadly not beyond pregnant which is just another layer of this nightmare world she’s found herself in), she is utterly furious, and it’s all her own fault, which makes the whole thing worse.

She could blame Rhaegar, she thinks as she paces restlessly around the tower he’s imprisoned her in, just like one of the heroines in those old stories he loves so well. She *does* blame Rhaegar for a lot of it - for taking her here and leaving her, cut off from the outside world, from all her friends and family – gods, her family must be frantic. She can’t even think of her father without a heavy cloak of shame hanging off her shoulders.

But running off with Rhaegar when he came to find her… that’s the one thing she can’t blame him for. It was her own choice to leave, and despite what she had resolved — he was a prince, sure, but he was also a married man, he had children, he was ten years older than her, this was not the right way out of her miserable life — when he showed up, and kissed her, and called her “my lovely lady” and promised her that he’d make everything right, she’d forgotten all that and left with him that very night.

The first weeks had been a whirlwind of songs and stories, of making love again and again, and even more promises. But those promises had turned to ashes when Lyanna told Rhaegar of her pregnancy. “A son,” he’d said, with a satisfied smile on his face, and she realized that all his talk of prophecy wasn’t just a story or a silly fantasy — he believed it, and believed the child she was carrying was the third head of the dragon that he was always going on about.

It was at that moment she realized what a big mistake she’d made, and the bottom fell out of the fantasy world they’d created together. But she was a Stark, no matter how much she’d argued with her father and brothers, no matter how hard she’d rebelled. She wouldn’t let him see how scared she suddenly was. All she said was, “It might be a daughter.”

At least she’d had the pleasure of watching that smug smile disappear from his face, but it was soon after that he’d departed, taking her phone with him, and leaving strict instructions with his guards to not allow her any contact from the outside world. There were no phones, the television had disappeared, and so had any radio, and Lyanna wasn’t allowed to venture any further than the outside garden, with the ever-present Arthur Dayne always looming over her shoulder.

She didn’t even know where Rhaegar had gone — “to help my father” was all he’d said, and she hasn’t seen him since. His father was the King of Westeros — a largely ceremonial title in this day and age, and King Aerys was often mocked as “the mad King” for all his demands for power to return to the monarchy. From the little Rhaegar had spoke of politics, she had assumed he wasn’t interested in his father’s wishes — wishes that went against everything her own father — Lord Stark of Winterfell, and one of the most powerful and well-respected men in the country, certainly more well-respected than the king himself — had declared important for helping the country move forward and heal from the damage done in the last rebellion.

But his obsession with his pet prophecy, his determination to have a third child, “the prince who was promised” as he repeated again and again… well. It seemed entirely possible that Rhaegar himself was even more interested than his father in restoring absolute power to House Targaryen.

~~~

She’d been an utter fool, and she realizes that now. She was truly the silly girl that Brandon claimed she was, so eager to get away from the life that had been planned for her that she’d grabbed hard and held on tight when the first opportunity presented itself.

Brandon and Ned and even Benjen had scolded her over the debacle at Harrenhal - Prince Rhaegar choosing her for the traditional opening dance at the Summer Festival, and declaring her in front of the crowd (and the millions of people all over Westeros watching the broadcast) “the Queen of Love and Beauty,” completely ignoring his wife, the Princess Elia.

Her brothers were furious, the crowd at the Festival was shocked, and the scandal was on the front page of every newspaper, the cover of every magazine, the lead story on every news show for weeks on end — the perfect Prince Rhaegar, scorning his lovely and popular wife, for a teenage girl.

Lyanna, of course, had nothing to do with any of the stories. Her brothers had rushed her home, to face the anger of her father, who wasted no time sending her off to one of the most exclusive, and remote, boarding schools in the country. She was furious then, determined not to let her father ruin her life, and when Rhaegar sent her texts and emails, she hadn’t hesitated — responding immediately, letting what had started as a silly crush grow into something more, a dangerous flirtation

Still, the memory of Princess Elia’s face when Rhaegar led her onto the dance floor kept Lyanna determined not to let it go any further than that. But then Rhaegar had shown up that night, asked her to run off, and all her resolve melted away.

~~~

So she’s stuck here in this old tower, with poker-faced guards who barely speak with her (except, of course, for Arthur, who seems sympathetic to her plight, although not sympathetic enough to help her escape), and her belly growing bigger every day. She’s taken to talking to the baby, promising her — for Lyanna is determined her child is a girl — that they won’t stay here forever, that someday she’ll figure a way out of this, that her father will find her, or Brandon, or Ned. Rhaegar can’t keep them prisoner forever, she tells herself and her child, although she’s starting to wonder about that.

But there has to be a way out. Someone will come.

~~~

When help arrives, though, it’s not at all what she had hoped for.

~~~

The day is warm, and Lyanna is sitting out on the balcony, enjoying the sun, when she spies a car coming up the long drive. She’s not the only one who sees it, though, and Arthur hustles her inside, locking her in her bedroom, before going to deal with whoever it is.

She’s praying for a rescue, but she’s scared too. There are loud voices, and though she can’t make out the words through the thick walls, she can tell there’s an argument going on. She peers out the window, but there’s nothing to see, and finally she sits on her bed, arms folded over her belly, and waits anxiously for what will happen next.

What happens next is this: the door to her room opens, and three women enter, one after the other, with Arthur bringing up the rear, looking a bit shamefaced.

Of all the rescuers she imagined, these were not the ones, and Lyanna stares wide-eyed as Queen Rhaella, Rhaegar’s mother, walks up to her, and lays a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Child,” she says. “I have bad news.”

~~~

Lyanna’s father is dead, and so is her brother Brandon, executed on the orders of the Mad King. Her brother Ned and many others are demanding the King’s head, demanding he abdicate immediately, demanding the abolition of the monarchy. Rhaegar is preparing for war. Against her brother. The Queen departed the capital in order to seek her out, bringing the other two women with her, Ashara Dayne, the most beautiful woman Lyanna has ever seen, and the woman Lyanna never thought she’d face, Princess Elia herself.

She can barely take it all in, even when Ashara explains her brother Arthur was the one who revealed her whereabouts.

“But why?” she asks him. He’s the only one she can speak to at the moment, more comfortable with him after all these months than with any of her would-be rescuers.

He just shakes his head. “You wouldn’t be safe here.”

Perhaps he’s protecting her, perhaps he’s setting her free, perhaps he’s sending her into even more danger. Lyanna has no way of knowing, and she’s not sure she should be going anywhere with these women.

“You can’t stay here,” Ashara tells her firmly, as if she can read Lyanna’s mind.

“Where will I go, though?”

“With us,” says the Queen. “There’s a rebellion coming, maybe a full-on war, and you’re carrying my grandchild. We need to get you, all of us, to safety.”

Lyanna looks around at all the women, and for the first time, she realizes they’re all pregnant. Like her. Except for one.

Princess Elia, who holds out her hand to Lyanna. “Come with us,” she says. “My children, and Viserys, we’ve sent them on ahead. But we must catch up to them. We can’t stay here much longer.”

Lyanna just stares at her, this woman she’s wronged so badly, the wife of the man that Lyanna thought she loved, thought loved her. How can she take her hand, how can Elia offer it, how can this madness be her life?

Elia keeps her gaze focused on Lyanna, her hand still outstretched, and surprisingly, there’s no anger in her eyes. “I know you’re scared,” she says softly. “You’re not the only one. But you must have courage, my dear.” She nods at the Queen and Ashara. “We need you, as much as you need us.”

She doesn’t move for a moment, doesn’t say a word, doesn’t even dare to breathe. “You need me?” Lyanna’s voice is bitter when she finally speaks. “Why? What could you possibly need me for?”

“You’re going to help us. We need you to help us.”

Lyanna almost laughs. She’s a pregnant teenage runaway, kept prisoner by the man who seduced her. What does she have to offer. “Help you do what?”

“Help us stop the war,” says Queen Rhaella. Lyanna looks at her face and sees Rhaegar, remembers his seductive ways, and she hesitates.

“Help us save our families,” says Ashara, her hand lying on the curve of her belly, and when Lyanna turns to her, stares into her violet eyes, she sees a secret, and she’s intrigued. But still, she doesn’t move.

Elia finally takes Lyanna’s hand in her own, tugging her to her feet. The Princess looks so slight, seems so delicate, and Lyanna is surprised to feel the steel in her grip, hear it in her voice. “Help us change the world.”

_Change the world._ That’s something Lyanna never ever thought she could do, even with all the fights she had with her father, all the silly acts of teenage rebellion. But now that the words have been spoken, she knows it’s exactly what she wants to do, for herself, for her child, for all these ladies and their children, for her family and all the families in Westeros that will undoubtedly suffer for the King's whims.

Her hand is still in Elia’s as she follows the women out of the tower, to her freedom, to a new world that she'll help to create.


End file.
